ELECTRON

CONFIGURATION
LI:
• How electrons are configured in the first three
electron shells.
• How to identify the valence electrons of an atom.
ELECTRONS ARE THE ONLY PART
OF THE ATOM INVOLVED IN
BONDING. THIS MEANS THAT THE
REACTIVITY OF AN ATOM IS
DEPENDENT ON THE ELECTRON
CONFIGURATION!
 ELECTRON SHELLS
The first electron shell is very close to the nucleus, and can only hold 2
electrons.
The second electron shell is further from the nucleus, and can hold 8
electrons.
The third electron shell can also hold 8 electrons.
(Technically the third electron shell can hold 1818 electrons, but fortunately
you won't need to deal with that just yet!)

Electron configurations are used to show how the electrons are arranged in
an atom.
 ELECTRON SHELLS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSkJzE2Vz_w&t=23s&ab_channel=FuseSchool-GlobalEducation
 DETERMINE THE ELECTRON
CONFIGURAITON OF THE FOLLOWING
ATOMS
 VALENCE ELECTRONS
Only the outermost electrons are involved in bonding.

These are known as valence electrons.

You can identify valence electrons in many ways:

1. Counting the electrons in the outer shell of a diagram or picture.
2. Taking only the last number of its electron configuration.
3. Identifying which column in the periodic table the atom is found
in (this will be explained further in the next lesson).
 Gaining and Losing Electrons
Many chemical substances produce coloured light when
exposed to the heat of a flame.
• Bohr explained that the energy was causing electrons
in their ‘ground’ state to absorb energy and ‘jump’ to a
higher energy shell further from the nucleus (1).
• Bohr called these electrons ‘excited’.
• However, these higher energy levels are unstable,
causing excited electrons to fall back to their normal
shell (ground state) almost immediately (2).
• This fall from a higher energy releases energy in the
form of light – which is sometimes the visible
coloured light seen in a flame test.
 REVIEW QUESTIONS
• Describe why valence electrons are and why are they important?
• Research why helium is on the far right-hand side of the periodic table
rather than right next to hydrogen.
• Determine the electron arangement of the following elements: helium,
magnesium and argon.